


Answer the Door

by HighVoltage225



Series: Mighty Nein Tower Shenanigans [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27534991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighVoltage225/pseuds/HighVoltage225
Summary: Fjord has some questions about Dwueth'var that only one wizard can answer.
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Series: Mighty Nein Tower Shenanigans [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012590
Comments: 8
Kudos: 132





	Answer the Door

Fjord sat, legs crossed, in his meditation room in Caleb’s tower. He still had no idea how magic could make stuff like this. Maybe it was the kind of stuff they taught at the Soltryce Academy. Maybe he could have learned how to do it, had he attended like he originally wanted to. Holy hell, how long ago was that? Must almost be a year at this point. Felt like it had been a lifetime since he’d met this wild group of idiots he’d now gladly lay his life down for. How time had-

With a grunt, Fjord shook his head and brought his attention back to the sword. Caduceus said that it was important to keep your mind focused and empty while meditating. Fjord didn’t like that; his mind was meant to wander, and occasionally fall asleep sitting up. Nothing wrong with that. 

Now, back to the matter at hand: the Star Razor. Ever since he’d sliced Avantika in half, the sword had seemed longer, and it almost certainly was. Communing with the Wildmother had revealed nothing, but that might have been because he kept dozing off. 

Off in the other room, the clock chimed 1am. At this point, there was probably only one person who could answer his question as to what the hell his sword had just done. With any luck, the wizard would be awake and scribbling in his spellbook. 

Fjord stood up and bent backwards, groaning as his vertebrae popped rather loudly. With a wave of his hand, Dwueth’var vanished without a trace, leaving a faint scent of seawater behind. Fjord closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. With just a little imagination, he could almost feel the floor moving beneath his feet, hear the gentle lapping of waves against the hull of a ship. His eyes snapped open as he slapped himself gently. _C’mon Fjord. First answers, then sleep_.

A few moments later and he was standing in front of the wooden door interwoven with veins of amber. No light appeared beneath it, but Fjord hadn’t checked to see if it came through on his room either. Raising a tentative hand, he brought it down on the door in three swift and soft raps.

“Caleb? You up? It’s Fjord, I got a couple questions for ya.” His drawl made a reappearance, as it always did when he was nervous. Taking on Vandran’s accent for so long meant that it occasionally surfaced when he wasn’t keeping an eye on it. Fjord turned his back to the door to observe the rest of this floor, jumping as he heard the door open.

“Oh good, you’re up. I was wondering…” He trailed off as he saw the figure standing in the door. White hair stood up at odd peaks, standing in stark contrast to the dark purple skin that framed the figure’s face and shirtless torso. Small bruises and scratches mixed with long, faded scars as Fjord brought his eyes back up to meet the half-closed violet ones staring blearily back at him. They held the stare for a moment before slowly widening.

“Essek?” As soon as the name left Fjord’s lips, the drow’s eyes snapped open and the door slammed shut. Fjord stood there, mouth agape, looking like a fish out of water. Once his senses came back to him, he rapped on the door three more times, this time a bit more firmly. After a moment, the door opened once more.

“ _Ja?_ ” This time Caleb stood there, a smudge of ink along his hand that pressed against the doorframe. 

“Oh, did I wake you?” Fjord stammered slightly.

“No, no. I was just transcribing some spells. Y’know, wizard stuff. What did you need?”

“Well I had a question about the Star Razor, and I was hoping you could answer it.”

Caleb paused for a moment as if contemplating the situation. “ _Ja_ , alright. Come on in.” He turned around and bent over, scooping Frumpkin off the floor and draping him over his shoulders. He gestured for Fjord to follow and left the door open. Fjord followed hesitantly, his eyes scanning the room as he entered.

During his tour, Caleb hadn’t shown the Nein his room, but it was impressive. A fireplace crackled merrily, sending shadows dancing across the floor and walls. A massive desk was covered in open books and pieces of parchment (presumably much better quality than what was supplied in their rooms). The ceiling stretched far higher than the others, and the walls were lined with row upon row of bookshelves. Instead of being neat and precisely organized, however, the books were placed haphazardly, with seemingly no consistent organization system to filter through the many tomes and scraps of parchment that filled the shelves.

Caleb pulled the chair from the desk over to a small table and gestured for Fjord to take the other. Once Fjord eased himself into the chair, he extended a hand and Dwueth’var appeared in his hand once more. He gently set it on the table. “I know this sword is magic, but after our fight with Avantika, it seems to have grown and it seems like it’s more powerful. Can you offer any insight into it?”

Caleb ran his fingers along the flat of the blade, the runes glowing a faint amber when he came into contact with them. “I might be able to, give me a minute.” 

He went over to his desk and returned with a pouch Fjord had seen many times. It seemed to contain endless components that Caleb had used for his spells. This was no different, as Caleb pulled out a feather and a pearl and began moving his hands across the blade in geometric patterns. After a minute, the glow in his eyes faded and Caleb tucked the components away. 

“Well?” Fjord asked.

Caleb held up a finger as he let out a whistle. A small amber cat tumbled out of the chute and made its way over to him, meowing expectantly. “Schmidt, grab me _Die Spuren der Divergenz_ , _bitte_.” The cat meowed once more and made its way to the bookcase where, to Fjord’s surprise, it began hopping from shelf to shelf until it found the one it wanted. It then grabbed the book and, ever so delicately, placed it on its back before hopping back down the way it came. It then trotted over to Caleb and purred as he picked up the book and scratched it behind the ears.

After picking up the book and flipping through a few pages, Caleb began to speak. “As you know, a lot has happened in this world. One of the worst eras was that of the Calamity, the war between the Prime Deities and the Betrayer Gods that sent most of the world to _scheiße_. A lot of powerful artifacts were made during this time, by the gods, their followers, and mages. Some of them have survived to this point. We know them as the Vestiges of Divergence.

Fjord nodded along, somewhat following, but Caleb didn’t seem to notice. He just continued looking through the book. “These Vestiges, when unused for a long period of time, can enter a dormant state. After time and use, they can become awakened, but it is when they enter an exalted state that they truly reach their potential. It seems that killing Avantika caused Dwueth’var to become exalted.”

“So…..what does that mean?”  
  
“It means that it’s the most powerful it can be, as it was when it was first forged.”

“So it won’t happen again?”

“ _Nein._ ”

Fjord let out a sigh of relief, slumping back in his chair and waving his hand, causing the Star Razor to disappear once more. “Well thank you Caleb. It makes me feel a lot better to know why it did what it did. One last question though. When I first knocked, it looked like Essek answered the door. Is he here?”

Caleb scoffed, his eyes still not leaving the book. “Of course not. I made this tower, I control who enters it. The only people allowed in or out at this moment are members of the Nein. Not even Vess could get in here.”

Fjord nodded and groaned as he got up out of the chair. “It must have been my imagination then. Sorry about that. I think I’ll turn in. Have a good night, Caleb.”

“You too.” Caleb muttered, his eyes still scanning the book. Fjord turned to leave and made his way to the door. Just as he closed the door, he heard a faint Zemnian-tinted voice speak up.

“This is why _I_ open the door.”


End file.
